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Ninth International Workshop on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality
REFSQ '03
In connection with : CAiSE' 0 3
16 -17 June 2003, Klagenfurt/Velden, Austria

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At eight previous REFSQ workshops, researchers and practitioners from various disciplines have contributed to improve the definition and implementation of quality requirements. REFSQ'03 will continue this tradition as a highly interactive stage for discussion of quality-related problems in RE as they have developed over the last years. In particular, we encourage people from the requirements engineering, software engineering and information systems fields to present their approaches to higher software quality and to discuss how requirements engineering can contribute to it.

This year, REFSQ is organised in connection with the The 15th Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE'03) in Klagenfurt, Austria.

Goal

Achieving high software quality means to realise the needs of users and customers. These needs are elicited, negotiated, documented and validated during requirements engineering (RE). RE is therefore the most crucial
phase of software development. The goals of RE are :

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to produce a traceable requirements specification that is as consistent and complete as possible;

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to facilitate a cooperative and iterative learning process;

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to document both the specification and the RE process using appropriate representation formats;

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to establish a sufficient common understanding among the stakeholders involved;

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to establish systematic connections between requirements and actual systems.

Conventional RE methods usually support only parts of these goals or help stating only specific kinds of requirements.

REFSQ aims at improving our understanding of the relations between requirements engineering and software quality. Therefore, REFSQ supports intensive discussion provoked by brief presentations about :

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solutions to known RE problems and shortcomings;

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innovative research ideas possibly initiating new research directions in RE;

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industrial problem statements ; and

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generalisations from individual industrial experiences.

Themes

REFSQ'03 invites general submissions addressing a wide range of RE issues, such as:

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understanding and improving RE-processes;

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new methods and method engineering for RE;

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empirical evaluation of RE methods and tools;

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empirical studies of industrial RE practice; as well as

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transdisciplinary theories of and paradigms for RE.

In addition, the REFSQ'03 special theme is :

"Integration of Requirements Engineering into Software Engineering"

Requirements are used for various purposes in software engineering and project management. We seek, as is the tradition in REFSQ, for original RE methods, techniques and tools aiming at improved software quality. Possible topics include, without being restricted to :

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integration of RE with project management activities (e.g., project planning & controlling)

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integration of RE with quality assurance activities (e.g., inspection, testing)

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relation of requirements and architecture,

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relation of RE and change management,

Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to submit papers complying with this special theme. Submitions dealing with the traditional REFSQ topcis are of course welcome.

Publication

REFSQ'03 will have proceedings on the web. A pre-print of the proceedings will be provided at the workshop, but to reduce costs the final proceedings with post-workshop revisions will be available on the web and only printed on demand for a non-profit fee.

As previous years, we arrange a special journal issue with revised best papers.

Workshop Format

The workshop will be highly interactive. Attendance is limited to 30 people and all participants should have a paper accepted for the workshop. The workshop language is English.

The accepted papers will be made available electronically to all workshop participants before the workshop, so that presentations can be kept short.
Discussants will be appointed for each paper presentation. The discussants will be followed by a plenary discussion of the paper. In addition, there will be a plenary discussion at the end of each session.

At the end of the workshop there will be a general discussion, possibly including a brainstorming session about areas or topics of RE research that the participants perceive as important.

Instructions for Authors

Papers of three types can be submitted to the workshop using the standard IEEE CS Press two-column format described here:

http://computer.org/cspress/instruct.htm

(use formatting guidelines only - the submission rules are contained in this cfp and no copyright-forms or electronic abstracts are needed.)

Full papers (max 10 pages)
Full papers should emphasise what is new and significant about the chosen approach and adequately compare it with similar works. Integration of the contributions with mainstream or other research approaches to RE, SE and IS development are especially encouraged. All full papers will undergo three reviews. The maximum length of a full paper is 10 pages in the two-column format.

Position papers (max 4 pages)
Position papers should state the author's research position with respect to current RE practice, relations between current RE practice and RE research, and/or research methodology and ontological assumptions. Papers should emphasise topics that are particularly important within RE at present. The maximum length of a position paper is 4 pages in the two-column format.

Industrial problem statements (min 1 page and max 4 pages)
People from industry are especially encouraged to submit problem statements, which may address mismatches between current RE practice and research and/or emerging areas of concern for RE practitioners. The maximum
length of an industrial problem statement is 4 pages in the two-column format.

Send your contribution by e-mail in PDF format to :
bjorn.regnell@telecom.lth.se

Please do not submit hard copy : the accepted papers will be distributed electronically to the reviewers and to the other participants before the workshop.

Important Dates

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Submission deadline : March 17th, 2003 --- Extended to April 1rst !!!!

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Notification of acceptance : April 22th, 2003 -- Extended to April 28th

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Preliminary programme : 1rst of May !!!

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Camera ready paper due : May 11th, 2003

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REFSQ'03 workshop : June 16th-17th, 2003

Program Co-Chairs